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After swinging a hot bat in May, Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia has hit the skids in June

Orlando Arcia of the Brewers rips an RBI double off the wall in center field against the Marlins in the second inning.(Photo: Benny Sieu, Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)

One of the things that kept the bottom of the Milwaukee Brewers’ lineup going in May during the extended slumps of Travis Shaw and Jesús Aguilar was the production in the No. 8 spot from Orlando Arcia, who batted .290 that month with a .377 on-base percentage and .786 OPS.

Then June came and Arcia’s bat went cold. Entering the game Thursday night against Cincinnati at Miller Park, the Brewers shortstop was batting .153 (9 for 59) this month with a .203 OBP and .508 OPS.

Arcia was particularly unsuccessful at the plate on the last trip to Houston, San Francisco and San Diego, going 2 for 28 (.071) with no hits in his last 16 at-bats.

Oddly enough, Arcia’s skid began after a two-homer game in Pittsburgh on June 1, including the decisive two-run blast in the 13th inning that gave the Brewers a 12-10 victory. At that point, he was batting .264 with a .335 OBP and .766 OPS.

Since that game, Arcia was 7 for 53 (.132) and 3 for 34 (.089), dropping his overall numbers to .236 with a .302 OBP and .682 OPS.

“He had a rough road trip,” manager Craig Counsell said. “But he swung the bat better than the results (showed). He had some tough at-bats but he scorched some balls in San Diego that were outs. He was probably the biggest victim of that, him and Lorenzo (Cain).

“He puts the ball in play a lot. They’ve caught a lot of them. I thought in the San Francisco series, he was struggling more. But I thought he swung the bat pretty well in San Diego, for the most part.”

Shaw to see more action

Because the Brewers faced so many left-handed starters on the trip, including three in San Diego, the lefty-swinging Shaw didn’t play as much getting only 19 at-bats. He collected three hits, including a home run in Houston but still has been searching for the hitting stroke that has eluded him most of the season.

With the Reds starting four right-handers in this series, Counsell said Shaw would get plenty of action.

“It’s a good series for Travis because he’s going to be in there a lot,” Counsell said. “Every game is an important game. He hasn’t gotten hot, there’s no question.

“He’s been really good at (judging) balls and strikes. But the damage that we’re used to seeing, it still has not been there.”

Of the team’s inconsistent offense, Counsell said, “We didn’t score enough, period, in San Diego. We haven’t lined up our performances (lately). We haven’t gotten a performance from every area of the team at once.

“The days we’ve pitched, we haven’t hit. The days we’ve hit, we haven’t pitched. That’s led to a bunch of close losses.”

Houser continues to impress

Counsell thought the performance by reliever Adrian Houser in the 8-7 loss Thursday in San Diego was the best of his brief major-league career. Taking over after starter Zach Davies failed to get through the third inning, Houser pitched 3⅓ scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out four.

“That was his best outing,” Counsell said. “We saw four pitches for strikes. Then, you saw hitters being aggressive because they heard what other hitters were saying when they came back to the dugout. It was a really good outing. I think it gives him confidence. He’s got four good pitches.”

Whether having those four good pitches portends a move to the starting rotation at some point remains to be seen. But Counsell never has worried too much about who begins games and who follows, so stay tuned.

“His repertoire makes you think about that,” Counsell said.

Asked what he thought his future role might be, Houser said, “I think that everybody wants to be a starter, just because starting is starting. But I’m never going to complain about being in the big leagues.

“Pitching in the big leagues is what I want to do and whatever I can get is what I’ll take. I’m just going to go out there and compete the best I can and try to help the team win the best I can.

“(Bouncing back and forth from starting to relieving) definitely has its challenges. But the longer you do it and the more times you do it, you get in a little groove. And it especially (helps) having the other guys around and being able to ask what works for them, picking their brains. That’s really helped.”

Todd Rosiak of the Journal Sentinel sports staff contributed to these notes.

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